In May, Point Park hired two wrestling coaches to bring another athletic program to the university and expand the athletic department. Zach Mizer heads the men’s team and José Martinez heads the women’s team.

Mizer and Martinez will spend the 2024-25 academic year recruiting and building their rosters. Matches are set to begin next school year.

Construction of a designated practice facility is underway on the third floor of the Student Center, and athletics is ordering custom wrestling mats for the area. This process of ordering and installation will take several months.

Mizer hails from Canton, Ohio and previously served as head coach at Lyon College, an NCAA Division III school in Batesville, Arkansas. He worked at Lyon for two years, coaching seven NCWA National Qualifiers, five all-conference members and three scholar All-American honorees.

“Zach is very experienced, having been a Division III and an NAIA head coach,” Vice President of Athletics Scott Swain said. “We’re getting a veteran college coach with [him] and we thought he would be a good fit.”

Possessing over a decade of collegiate coaching experience, Mizer coached for Muskingum University (Ohio) for seven years and Buena Vista University (Iowa) for two. In college, he wrestled for Division III Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, earning three national qualifications and a national runner-up title during his senior year.

Mizer shared that he is excited to kick-start a new program, although it is a large undertaking.

“Starting your own program is kind of difficult, but it’s neat because you can grow it the way that you want,” Mizer said. “It’s just getting your name out there, getting kids to buy into your culture, and you can start fresh.”

Mizer also spoke about how he aims to recruit students to Point Park for both athletics and an outstanding education.

“There [are] jobs here [in Pittsburgh] for [students], Mizer said. “Whatever [their] major is, we can find you something here. I think that’s a good selling point to kids as well.”

Now coaching the women’s team, José Martinez was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,, but has spent most of his career in the Pittsburgh area. He previously served as a varsity wrestling coach for North Hills Area School District, about 15 minutes from campus.

In 24 years of coaching at North Hills, Martinez earned a total of 271 varsity wins, NWCA/USMC Coach of the Year and coached 17 PIAA qualifiers and two state champions. He also had a part in founding the women’s wrestling program at Penn Hills.

Martinez earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was a three-year starter, two-time Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) runner-up, and two-time NCAA qualifier.

“José is a great personality, and he is infectious with his positivity,” Swain said.  “He knows Western Pa. and knows girls wrestling [on] the high school level so well. We believe that [he] will be able to recruit very well to get this program off the ground.”

Martinez is coaching on the collegiate level for the first time in his career. He has worked in the area for 24 years and is extremely familiar with the local wrestling scene.

“I think that wrestling has a future here,” Martinez said. “I think if everything’s done correctly, Point Park University will have some really, really good years and could be a top contender.”

Martinez shared that there is apparent wrestling interest in the area, but he is focusing on getting Point Park’s name out.

“There’s a lot of work to be done on our part,” Martinez said. “We have to brand this program, and we have to brand it as one of the best wrestling programs around.”

The university hired Mizer and Martinez within the same month as Cody Golon and Erik Ingram, the new men’s and women’s lacrosse coaches. All four teams will compete during the 2025-26 school year in NCAA Division II athletics.

“It’s very exciting because adding new sports is an exciting time to an institution, and our four new head coaches are busy recruiting for these sports,” Swain said. “We think the four sports are a good fit for our university.”

Construction for the wrestling facility on campus is underway, and Mizer and Martinez will continue to spend the year recruiting for their new teams.